NOTES for Isa 1:19-31
“The strong shall become like tinder, and their work like a spark; they and their work shall burn together, with no one to quench them.” To follow the Lord along the way is to follow the path of humility and humiliation, making oneself small before the whole world. In each of us there is a hidden and burdensome striving for perfection and victory, sometimes without our even understanding victory over what. We breed envy and dissension as we try to find our way in the eyes of other people. We want a higher position, more pleasure, and so on. It resembles constant hunger. And by trying to satisfy ourselves and indulge our desires, we condemn ourselves to death: death from endless exhaustion, from emptiness, and in the loneliness of the heart. The more stubbornly we follow our path toward victories and achievements for our own sake, the more God opposes us. For He knows that our deeds are vain and useless if through our work we do not seek His presence in the world, if we do not seek peace and soften our hearts for His sake. “For out of Zion shall go forth the law”—the law of eternal life and peace.